The present invention relates to a method and/or architecture for implementing compact disc (CD) emulation generally and, more particularly, to a method and/or architecture for implementing CD emulation in a solid-state flash memory.
Mobile devices which have sizable memory capacity are costly and not effectively implemented. Flash cards provide dependent solid-state storage for data in a mobile device. However, conventional CD emulators require multiple flash memory cards to represent CD-ROM data. For example, a conventional CD-ROM disk can hold up to 650 MB, so five 128 MB flash cards would need to be used to store the contents of an entire CD-ROM disk. If each flash card costs in the range of $350, such an implementation is quite expensive.
Portable CD-ROM drives are another way to provide CD-ROM data for a mobile device. However, implementation of portable CD-ROM drives is limited, since the drive cannot be jarred or tipped improperly.
Cellular phones also store data in a mobile (solid state) format. However, cellular phones have limited data capacity. Additionally, cellular phones have a limited display, audio and processing capability. Furthermore, web access with cellular, phones is currently more expensive than other types of online access.
It is desirable to enable a, mobile device, such as a cellular phone or PDA, with silicon to implement a better display to allow an equivalent experience as a traditional gaming device, without requiring continuous web access. It is also desirable to enable a small solid state media, such as a single 128 MB flashcard, to have a data storage equivalent of a CD-ROM disk.
The present invention concerns a method for storing data in a solid state device, comprising the steps of (A) retrieving data from a source device, (B) storing the data in a compressed format to the solid state device and (C) accessing and uncompressing portions of the data from the solid state device the portions generally representing data to be executed, in response to an address.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include a method and/or architecture for implementing CD emulation in a solid state device, flash memory, that may (i) allow lossless compression of CD-ROM data, in particular playstation CD-ROM data, (ii) allow physical sector address (PSA) mapping to be maintained throughout the compression process and implemented by the CD-ROM feed receiving hardware, and software, (iii) maintain CD-ROM security, (iv) provide additional levels of security beyond traditional CD-ROM security, (v) allow windowing into a compressed file, (vi) provide cache sectors for fast access, (vii) have a balanced cache size, (viii) have reduced power consumption, (ix) allow variable and dynamic partitioning of system resources, (x) have flexible partitioning based on system needs, (xi) be implemented without external data storage if adequate local memory is available, (xii) allow existing systems to be upgraded to support compact disc emulation in a flashcard feed device, (xiii) allow in-coming phone calls to be answered, (xiv) allow portable devices (cellular phones/PDAs) to communicate with traditional TV sets, (xv) implement portable devices (cellular phones) with power conservation features, and/or (xv) allow portable devices to display text.